Method for forming metal wheels

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for forming metal wheel assemblies having a rim and attached spider. A pair of outer dies complementary to the final radial form of the wheel rim are moved together to enclose an annular metal workpiece. A pair of horizontally opposed conical dies are then moved interiorly of the outer dies and annular workpiece. Each conical die has an annular stuffing ledge which contacts the edge of the workpiece. Force is then exerted against the workpiece edges so as to plastically regenerate the workpiece between the conical dies and outer dies; thus, providing thickening of the material in desired areas. A spider extending across the workpiece is axially loaded with the conical dies causing plastic deformation of the spider. A center rod mounted to and projecting from one of the conical dies is concentric with the conical dies and extends through the spider as the spider plastically deforms therearound. A groove formed in one of the conical dies forms a seating ridge in the spider which is defined by a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the wheel rim. A plurality of seating bosses are formed into the spider by the conical dies.

United States Patent [191 451 May 1,1973

Roper METHOD F OR FORMING METAL WHEELS [75] Inventor: Ralph E. Roper,Indianapolis. Ind. [73] Assignee: Wallace Expanding Machines, lnc.,

Indianapolis, Ind.

[22] Filed: May 17, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 144,155

[52] US. Cl. ..29/159.01, 29/159. 1 72/355 [51] Int. Cl ..B21h 1/02,B21k 1/32 [58] Field of Search ..29/159 R, 159.1, 29/l59.01; 72/354,355, 352

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,291,393 7/1942 Le Jeune..29/l59.l

2,586,029 2/1952 Greenshields et a]. ..29/l59.l X

2,649,886 8/1953 Palmer ..72/401 2,826,161 3/1958 Palmer ..72/354 X2,944,502 7/1960 Lemmerz 29/l59.l X

3,298,218 1/1967 Gollwitzer.... ..72/355 3,530,717 9/1970 Gregg 29/l59.lX

3,688,373 9/1972 Gregg ..29/159 R Primary ExaminerCharles W. LanhamAssistant ExaminerV. A. Dipalma Attorney-Woodard, Weikart, Emhardt &Naughton ABSTRACT A method and apparatus for forming metal wheelassemblies having a rim and attached spider. A pair of outer diescomplementary to the final radial form of the wheel rim are movedtogether to enclose an annular metal workpiece. A pair of horizontallyopposed conical dies are then moved interiorly of the outer dies andannular workpiece. Each conical die has an annular stuffing ledge whichcontacts the edge of the workpiece. Force is then exerted against theworkpiece edges so as to plastically regenerate the workpiece betweenthe conical dies and outer dies; thus, providing thickening of thematerial in desired areas.

A spider extending across the workpiece is axially,

12 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures Patented May 1, 1973 3,729,795

6 Sheets-Sheet 1 llllllllllllllll7) ll/l/l/ll/ to q? l INYENTOR. RALPHE. ROPER BY a/W a/ M m ATTORNEYS Patented May 1, 1973 3,729,795

6 Sheets-Sheet 2 /////Y/// //1 A\\ i 3 I INYENTOR. F 3 RALPH E. ROPE BYWmMd/M,M f. WM

ATTORNEYS Patented May ,1, 1973 3,729,795

6 Sheets-Sheet I //I//////// L/// /X (as E 26 W as! 32 Fig.4

7 INYENTOR. RALPH E. POPER BY wm,a/m,mw m

ATTORNEYS Patented May 1, 1973 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig.6

ATTORNEYS Patented May 1,1973

6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. P/QLPH E. POPE? BY a/my/mflnm i WM ATTORN EYSBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to methods and devices for forming wheels.

2. Description of the Prior Art In my U. S. Pat. No. 3,263,477 issuedAug. 2, 1966, and entitled Apparatus for Forming Metallic Ring Members,I disclosed an apparatus for forming a wheel rim by use of diesemploying my stuffing ledge technique. The stuffing technique was alsodisclosed in my allowed U. S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 750,856 filedAug. 7, 1968, which is entitled Process for Manufacture of Shadow MaskFrames." Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus for fprming a wheelrim which has a spider web for mounting the rim to a rotatable carrier.The stuffing ledge technique is utilized in this method and apparatus.

Several U. S. Patents have issued for forming wheel rims. For example,the following US Pats. Nos. 2,586,029 issued to Greenshields; 2,649,886issued to Palmer; 2,826,161 issued to Palmer; and 3,509,755 issued toBulgrin. All disclose devices for forming wheel rims. A more recent U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,717 issued to Gregg discloses a machine for rounding awheel having a spider web attached to the wheel rim. The Gregg devicehas rounding dies to engage the rim periphery, which is preferablyformed oversize when the wheel is assembled for bringing the rim intoaxial and radial alignment. When the rim is held in its true position bythe rounding dies, a machining or forming operation is effected upon alocating opening in the spider web so that the rim will be true withrespect to its axis of rotation as defined by this locating opening. Itcan be appreciated that when radially loading an oversized rim, thetendency will be for the spider web to spring back. Thus, the prior artdevices, as disclosed on line 72 of page 6 of the Gregg patent, providefor allowance to reduce the springback. Although the center opening islocated centrally of the rim, the desired mounting arrangement of thewheel will not be achieved in the event that the spider web is notexactly parallel with the periphery of the rim. It is thereforedesirable to severely minimize the springback and to ensure that themounting portion of the spider web is exactly perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of the rim. Disclosed herein is a method and apparatusfor achieving this objective. The rim is axially loaded in lieu of beingradially loaded so as to plastically deform the rim. Simultaneously withthe plastic deformation of the rim, the spider is also plasticallydeformed so as to reclassify or coin the spindle mounting hole of thespider into near perfect relation with the wheel axis. As a result ofthe homogeneous rearrangement of the wheel rim and spider assembly, thedimensional tolerance of the finished wheel is better than thedimensional tolerance experienced in the utilization of the prior artmachines. Also, by correct spacing of the dies, the thickness of the rimmay be controlled throughout the rim length. For example, it may bedesirable to increase the thickness in high stress areas whiledecreasing the thickness in low stress areas. This thickness controlwill allow the use of relative thinner sheet material. The resultingmaterial savings will provide a very significant cost savings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One embodiment of the present invention is amethod of forming a wheel rim and spider assembly comprising the stepsof: enclosing a continuous annular metal wheel assembly workpiece withouter dies complementary to a final radial form of the rim; contactingthe rim edges of said workpiece with annular stuffing ledges on innerdies; exerting columnar force axially against said edges with said innerdies to cause plastic deformation of said workpiece; axially loadingsaid inner dies against said spider to cause plastic deformation of saidspider subsequent to said contacting step but during said plasticdeformation of said workpiece; and, holding a center rod centrally withrespect to said edges and axially through said spider during said axialloading step defining a hole therethrough as said spider plasticallydeforms and is repacked around said rod.

Another embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus comprising apair of coaxial generally conical dies pointing toward one another,first means for moving said dies together whereby said dies may beseated with the opposite ends of an annular workpiece, having a spiderin engagement with the inner surface of the workpiece, a plurality ofouter dies arranged in a pattern coaxial with said generally conicaldies, means for moving said outer dies together wherein the innersurface of said outer dies engage the outer surface of said workpieceand cooperate with said genrally conical dies to form the workpiece,said generally conical dies being provided with mutually facing stuffingledges which cooperate with said outer dies to stufi the material of theworkpiece between said outer dies and said generally conical dieswherein the improvement comprises: said generally conical dies havemutually facing surfaces with one of said facing surfaces having a rodprojecting therefrom centrally of said stuffing ledges and concentricwith said conical dies toward the other of said facing surfaces, saidrod being positioned to extend axially through said spider; and, saidstuffing ledges being spaced apart a distance less than the axial lengthof said workpiece and said conical dies being spaced from said outerdies a distance greater than the thickness of said workpiece when saidouter dies and said conical dies are closed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedmethod and apparatus for forming a wheel.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method andapparatus for establishing a spindle hole of a wheel which is centrallypositioned.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method andapparatus for plastically deforming a wheel so as to establish a truemounting plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide amethod and apparatus for forming a wheel having accurately positionedmounting bosses.

Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary verticalsection through a wheel assembly forming apparatus embodying the presentinvention with the dies shown in the completely open position.

FIG. 2 is the same view as FIG. 1 only showing the outer dies in theclosed position.

FIG. 3 is the same view as FIG. 2 only showing the conical dies in thepartially closed position.

FIG. 4 is the same view as FIG. 3 only showing the conical dies in thecompletely closed position.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 4 andviewed in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the dies.

FIG. 7 is the same view as FIG. 6 only with less detail and with analternate center pilot rod shown.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For the purposes of promoting anunderstanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now bemade to the embodiment illustrated in the drawing and specific languagewill be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understoodthat no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended,such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device,and such further applications of the principles of the invention asillustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to oneskilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 4, there isillustrated the apparatus incorporating the present invention. Theapparatus has a pair of horizontally opposed coaxial conical dies 21 and22 movably mounted to engage and form a wheel 25 having a rim 26 withedges 27 and a spider 28 integrally joined to and extending across therim. The center of the spider is provided with opening 29 with aplurality of lug receiving bosses 30 positioned equidistant around hole29. A wheel such as wheel 25 may be found on various vehicles such asautomobiles and trucks. A pair of outer dies 23 and 24 are arranged in apattern coaxial with the generally conical dies and may be moved toengage the outer surface of the rim so as to cooperate with the conicaldies 21 and 22 to final form the wheel. The top outer die 23 isvertically movable to and from the bottom die 24 which is mounted to alower die retainer 34 fixedly secured to a support wall 33. Bottom die24 does not move since retainer 34 and support wall 33 are fixedlysecured to the bottom wall 31 (FIG. 5) of the apparatus. A plurality ofupstanding members 32 secure wall 33 and retainer 34 to wall 31.

The apparatus disclosed herein is utilized to final form the wheel afterthe spider has been attached to the rim. A variety of methods, such aswelding or riveting, may be utilized to attach the spider to the rim.Subsequent to the attaching of the spider to the rim, the wheel isinserted by a loading device to be described later in this specificationso as to rest upon the bottom outer die 24 as shown in FIG. I. The topouter die 23 is then moved vertically downward to engage the wheel asshown in FIG. 2. Next, the pair of conical dies 21 and 22 are movedtoward the wheel in order that the stuffing ledges 52 and 53 (FIG. 6) ofeach die 21 and 22 will engage the edges 27 of the rim 26 as shown inFIG. 3. Ledges 52 and 53 extend around the dies 21 and 22 and contactthe rim edges completely around the circumference of the wheel. Themutually facing stuffing ledges 52 and 53 cooperate with the outer dies23 and 24 to stuff the material of the rim between the outer dies andthe generally conical dies as the conical dies are moved to the mostinward position as shown in FIG. 4. Thus, the assembled wheel withspider is an annular workpiece which is final formed to the desiredshape and configuration by the apparatus disclosed herein.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4viewed in the direction of the arrows. Referring now to FIG. 5, ahydraulic cylinder motor 37 is mounted to the top wall 38 which issecured to the vertical walls of the apparatus. The piston rod 39 of thehydraulic cylinder motor is movable vertically therefrom and has abottom end secured to the upper die retainer 35 which carries the topouter die 23. Retainer 35 is vertically movable within a pair of guides36 positioned on either side of the retainer. Thus, by activation byhydraulic cylinder motor 37, the upper retainer 35 and top die 23 may bemoved to and from wheel 25. A number of different structures may beutilized to mount the vertically movable retainer 35. For example, theretainer may have ribs which project into grooves formed in guides 36 orguides 36 may have ribs which project into complementary sized groovesprovided in the retainer.

After the wheel has been formed by apparatus 20, the conical dies aremoved apart and the top outer die 23 is moved upwardly. In certaininstances, the final formed wheel may become lodged in the top outerdie. Thus, a spring loaded rod 66 is slidable within hole 67 of die 23and will move downwardly under the force of a spring means (not shown)thereby engaging the wheel and forcing the wheel from the die. Likewise,in certain instances, the wheel may become lodged with respect to thebottom outer die 24. Thus, a rod 44 is provided which will project fromhole 45 of die 24 so as to free the final formed wheel from the bottomouter die 24. Rod 44 is moved upwardly by activating lever 48 operatedby unloader 56. Lever 48 is pivotally mounted v to a bracket 49 securedto wall 33. A spring 54 normally urges end 68 of lever 48 in the mostdownward position. End 68 receives a rod 46 slidable in hole 47 ofretainer 34. Rods 44 and 46 are aligned and are in contact. A third rod55 is slidable in retainer 34 and abuts the opposite end of lever 48.The top end of rod 55 projects through the top of retainer 34 and isdepressed by pad 64 when unloader 56 pivots in the direction of arrow59. Downward movement of rod 55 forces lever 48 to pivot thereby movingrods 46 and 44 upwardly and freeing the final formed wheel from thebottom die. A pair of contact pads 42 and 43 are provided on retainers34 and 35 with pads 43 being provided with holes to receive rod 55.

Loader 62 has an arm which may be pivoted in the direction of arrow 63so as to load the assembled wheel into the apparatus. The un-loader 56is similar in design and construction to loader 62 and thus thefollowing description of unloader 56 will apply equally to loader 62. Ahydraulic cylinder motor 60 is mounted to bracket 65 secured to member32 of the apparatus. The piston rod 61 of hydraulic cylinder motor 60 ispivotally connected to an arm 58 which in turn is pivotally mounted tothe apparatus. A gripping device 57 is provided at the end of the arm 58to engage the final formed wheels when the arm is pivoted in thedirection of arrow 59 by extending rod 61. Thus, the loader and unloadermay be sequenced with the movement of the dies thereby providing forcompletely automatic operation.

Dies 21 and 22 (FIG. 4) are secured respectively to press rams 50 and 75by fastening devices 69 and 70. The fastening devices are threaded boltswith the head 71 of fastener 70 projecting from die 22 and into hole 73(FIG. 6) of die 21 when the dies are in the completely closed position.The head of fastener 69 is recessed so as to allow head 71 to enter hole73. Dies 21 and 22 have mutually facing surfaces which are complementaryin size and configuration. Head 71 projects through the mutually facingsurfaces and is positioned centrally with respect to stuffing ledges 52and 53 being concentric therewith. In view of the concentricity of thestuffing ledges and head 71, the opening 29 of spider web 28 will bepositioned centrally and concentrically with respect to the rim. In theevent that opening 29 is smaller than head 71, then a portion of thespider surrounding the head will be pushed to the left as viewed in FIG.4 thereby forming a flanged portion 74 (FIG. 6). The chamfered portion72 of fastener 70 when inserted through the spider will form a slightcountersink around the center spider opening.

Other wheel designs have spider spindle holes without a flange. FIG. 7shows such a wheel which has a flat portion 74' around the spindle hole.The pilot rod 70 of desired finished diameter is entered through aslightly oversized pre-pierced hole in the spider. Shoulder 72' of rod70' coins a depression in the spider around the pilot 71 extendedthrough the hole in the spider thereby packing the metal around pilot 71and establishing an accurate hole size concentric with the wheel rimaxis.

Automotive wheel assemblies typically have a plurality of lug receivingbosses spaced equidistant around the center spider opening. These bossesreceive the lugs fixedly projecting from the wheel of the vehicle wheelhub with hexagonally shaped nuts being provided to secure the spider tothe lugs. The mounting bosses of spider 28 are located at position 89(FIG. 6) being spaced equidistant around opening 29. A plurality of seatforming bosses 89 are provided on die 22 being spaced equidistant aroundaxis 84. Immediately outward and adjacent bosses 89, the spider isdepressed forming a mounting ridge 92 which extends around opening 29.Ridge 92 is formed by protrusion 81 of die 21 being received in groove80 of die 22. The innermost portion or vertex of groove 80 defines aplane 83 which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 84 extendingcentrally through dies 21 and 22 and wheel 25. Plane 83 is parallel withledges 52 and 53. Surface 82 of ridge 92 adjacent to the vertex ofgroove 80 forms a mounting surface parallel with plane 83 which abutsagainst the exterior surface of the hub receiving wheel 25. Bosses 89each have a surface 90 nearest die 21 defining the plane 91 parallelwith plane 83, perpendicular to axis 84 and parallel to stuffing ledges52 and 53.

Dies 21 and 22 are horizontally movable by a pair of hydraulic cylindermotors. Press rams 50 and 75 (FIG. 1) have cylindrical rod portionswhich are integrally joined to piston heads 76. Hydraulic pressure isapplied to the back surface (not shown) of piston heads 76 to move thecylindrical portions inward. By placing a negative hydraulic pressure onthe back surface of the piston, the rod portions may be moved outwardly.Each rod portion is surrounded by a locking ring. Locking ring 40surrounds the cylindrical rod portion attached to die 21 whereas lockingring 41 surrounds the cylindrical rod portion attached to die 22. Eachlocking ring is horizontally slidable being mounted to guides 93 whichare similar to guides 36 previously described and shown in FIG. 5.Locking ring 41 will now be described it being understood that a similardescription applies to locking ring 40. Locking ring 41 has acylindrical ring 94 fixedly attached thereto by fastening devices 96.The innermost side 95 of ring 94 is tapered so as to provide a cammingsurface when contacting tapered sides 97 of retainers 34 and 35. Aspiston 76 is moved to the left as viewed in FIGS. 1 through 5, theinnermost surface 99 of the piston will contact ring 41, forcing thelocking ring to move in the direction of arrow 98. Eventually, thetapered side 95 of ring 94 will contact tapered side 97 of the closedretainer 35 and retainer 34 thereby together with locking ring 40cooperatively locking dies 23 and 24 together. As piston 76 is moved tothe right as viewed in FIGS. 1 through 4, a ring 100 mounted to ram willcontact surface 102 of cutout portion 101 of ring 41 thereby moving thelocking ring in a direction opposite of arrow 98 and thereby unlockingretainers 34 and 35. Die 23 may then be moved upwardly. The lockingrings lock dies 23 and 24 together when dies 23 and 24 close but beforedies 21 and 22 engage the wheel.

Dies 21 and 22 are arranged so as to provide for the regeneration andplasticization of the wheel rim and spider assembly. The distance (FIG.4) between the stuffing ledges 52 and 53 in the completely closedposition is less than the axial length of the workpiece which of courseis the assembled wheel prior to final forming. Thus, after the annularmetal workpiece is enclosed by dies 23 and 24, the rim edges of theworkpiece are contacted by the annular stuffing ledges and columnarforce is then exerted axially against the rim edges with dies 21 and 22to cause plastic deformation of the workpiece. Eventually, the mutuallyfacing surfaces of dies 21 and 22 wil contact the spider and axiallyload the spider to cause plastic deformation thereof. The plasticdeformation of the spider occurs subsequent to the contacting of the rimedges by the stuffing ledges but occurs during the plastic deformationof the rim. The distance between the stuffing ledges 85 is shown in FIG.4 with the dies in the completely closed position whereas the axiallength of the workpiece prior to deformation is shown as distance 86 inFIG. 3. In addition, the rim thickness 87 (FIG. 3) of the rim prior tofinal forming is less than the distance 88 (FIG. 4) between the outerand inner dies when the dies are in the completely closed position. As aresult, the axial length of the wheel is decreased with the thickness ofthe rim being increased during the final forming operation. Theplasticization of the rim and spider prevents the springback problemdiscussed in the section entitled Description of the Prior Art. Inaddition, it is the stuffing action that creates the extreme closetolerance for radial perfection. The application of the stuffing ledgelikewise perfects the lateral tolerance for the mounting flanges of thetire. The work for regeneratirig the rim and spider is accomplishedsolely by the driving force of dies 21 and 22 with the outer dies 23 and24 providing a fixed precision retainer during the forming operation.

The method of forming the wheel rim through the utilization of apparatus20 provides for enclosing the continuous annular metal workpiece withthe pair of outer dies complementary to the final radial form of therim. As previously described, the rim edges are contacted with theannular stuffing ledges of the conical dies and then columnar force isexerted axially against the edges with the inner dies to cause plasticdeformation of the workpiece. Eventually, the mutually facing surfacesof the conical dies axially load the spider to cause plastic deformationof the spider in desired local areas subsequent to the contacting stepbut during the plastic deformation of the rim. Due to the plasticizationof the annular workpiece and spider and the cooperative extruding orcoining around the center spider opening and the coining of the mountingpads, several important results occur. For example, the two outsideedges of the rim are established parallel; the radial rutrout in thetire fit area is regenerated and burnished creating a small tolerance atthis area, and the lateral runout measured in the wheel flange areawhere the tire abuts the side wall of the rim is compressed and formedagainst the outer die forming a highly compressed condition andretaining a small runout tolerance.

A center rod or head 71 is held centrally with respect to the stuffingledges so as to project axially through the spider during the axialloading step defining a hole therethrough as the spider plasticallydeforms and repacks areound the spider. As previously mentioned, theouter dies are held apart from the conical dies a distance greater thanthe thickness of the workpiece when the dies are in the completelyclosed position. Likewise, the stuffing ledges are held apart a distanceless than the axial length of the workpiece when the dies are in thecompletely closed position. A ridge is formed around the center holereceiving head 71 during the plastic deformation of the spider so as todefine a seating plane 33 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 84 andparallel to the rim edges. The stepped and tapered cross section of therim as shown in FIG. 1 provides for the burnishing of the rim edges whenthe conical dies are moved inwardly. The parallel mounting pads areformed into the spider equidistant from the outer dies during theplastic deformation of the spider with the pads being perpendicular tothe longitudinal axis of the rim. Prior to inserting the assembled wheelinto the apparatus 20, a continuous annular metal rim is formed with aspider being secured interiorly to and radially across the rim.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, the same is to be consideredillustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood thatonly the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that allchanges and modifications that come within the spirit of the inventionare desired to be protected.

The invention claimed is:

l. A method of forming a wheel assembly having a rim and spidercomprising the steps of:

enclosing a continuous annular metal workpiece having a spider withouter dies complementary to a final radial form of the rim; contactingthe rim edges of said workpiece with annular stuffing ledges on innerdies; exerting columnar force axially against the edges with said innerdies to cause plastic deformation of said workpiece; axially loadingsaid inner dies against said spider to cause plastic deformation of saidspider subsequent to said contacting step but during said plasticdeformation of said workpiece; and, holding a center rod centrally withrespect to said ledges and axially through said spider during saidaxially loading step defining a hole therethrough as said spiderplastically deforms and is repacked around said rod. 2. The method ofclaim 1 and further comprising the steps of:

holding said outer dies apart from said inner dies a distance greaterthan the thickness of said workpiece when said outer dies and said innerdies are in the fully closed position allowing said outer dies to retainsaid rim during said exerting step; and, terminating said axiallyloading step by positioning said inner dies in a fully closed positionwherein said stufi'mg ledges are spaced apart a distance less than theaxial length of said workpiece. 3. The method of claim 2 and furthercomprising the step of:

forming parallel mounting pads in said spider equidistant from saidouter dies during said plastic deformation of said spider, said padsbeing perpen dicular to the axis of said rim. 4. The method of claim 3and further comprising the step of: I

confining said workpiece between said outer and inner dies during saidplastic deformation of said workpiece. 5. The method of claim 4 andfurther comprising the step of: I

forming a countersink around said hole in said spider by projecting atapered portion of said rod through said spider. 6. The method of claim4 and further comprising the step of:

forming a coined depression around said hole in said spider. 7. Themethod of claim 5 and further comprising the steps of:

forming a continuous annular metal workpiece prior to said enclosingstep; and, securing a metal spider web interiorly to and radially acrosssaid workpiece subsequent to said forming step but prior to saidenclosing step. 8. The method of claim 1 and further comprising the stepof:

forming a ridge around said hole during said plastic deformation of saidspider, said ridge defining a seating plane perpendicular to alongitudinal axis of said rim and parallel to the rim edges. 9. Themethod of claim 8 additionally comprising the step of:

burnishing the rim in tire contact areas during said axially loadingstep.

10. A method of forming a wheel rim with spider comprising the steps of:

enclosing a continuous annular metal workpiece having a spider withfirst dies complementary to a final radial form of the rim;

exerting columnar force axially against the edges of said workpiece withsecond dies having stuffing ledges receiving said edges to cause plasticdeformation of said workpiece;

axially loading said second dies against said spider to cause plasticdeformation of said spider subsequent to initiation of said exertingstep but during said plastic deformation of said workpiece; and,

forming parallel mounting pads in said spider with said second diesduring said plastic deformation of said spider, said pads beingperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rim. 11. The method ofclaim 10 and further comprising the step of:

holding a center rod centrally with respect to said ledges and axiallythrough said spider during said axially loading step defining a holetherethrough as said spider plastically deforms and is repacked aroundsaid rod. 12. The method of claim 10 and further comprising the step of:

forming a ridge around said hole during plastic deformation of saidspider, said ridge defining a seating plane perpendicularto alongitudinal axis of the rim and parallel to the rim edge.

* i t i i

1. A method of forming a wheel assembly having a rim and spidercomprising the steps of: enclosing a continuous annular metal workpiecehaving a spider with outer dies complementary to a final radial form ofthe rim; contacting the rim edges of said workpiece with annularstuffing ledges on inner dies; exerting columnar force axially againstthe edges with said inner dies to cause plastic deformation of saidworkpiece; axially loading said inner dies against said spider to causeplastic deformation of said spider subsequent to said contacting stepbut during said plastic deformation of said workpiece; and, holding acenter rod centrally with respect to said ledges and axially throughsaid spider during said axially loading step defining a holetherethrough as said spider plastically deforms and is repacked aroundsaid rod.
 2. The method of claim 1 and further comprising the steps of:holding said outer dies apart from said inner dies a distance greaterthan the thickness of said workpiece when said outer dies and said innerdies are in the fully closed position allowing said outer dies to retainsaid rim during said exerting step; and, terminating said axiallyloading step by positioning said inner dies in a fully closed positionwherein said stuffing ledges are spaced apart a distance less than theaxial length of said workpiece.
 3. The method of claim 2 and furthercomprising the step of: forming parallel mounting pads in said spiderequidistant from said outer dies during said plastic deformation of saidspider, said pads being perpendicular to the axis of said rim.
 4. Themethod of claim 3 and further comprising the step of: confining saidworkpiece between said outer and inner dies during said plasticdeformation of said workpiece.
 5. The method of claim 4 and furthercomprising the step of: forming a countersink around said hole in saidspider by projecting a tapered portion of said rod through said spider.6. The method of claim 4 and further comprising the step of: forming acoined depression around said hole in said spider.
 7. The method ofclaim 5 and further comprising the steps of: forming a continuousannular metal workpiece prior to said enclosing step; and, securing ametal spider web interiorly to and radially across said workpiecesubsequent to said forming step but prior to said enclosing step.
 8. Themethod of claim 1 and further comprising the Step of: forming a ridgearound said hole during said plastic deformation of said spider, saidridge defining a seating plane perpendicular to a longitudinal axis ofsaid rim and parallel to the rim edges.
 9. The method of claim 8additionally comprising the step of: burnishing the rim in tire contactareas during said axially loading step.
 10. A method of forming a wheelrim with spider comprising the steps of: enclosing a continuous annularmetal workpiece having a spider with first dies complementary to a finalradial form of the rim; exerting columnar force axially against theedges of said workpiece with second dies having stuffing ledgesreceiving said edges to cause plastic deformation of said workpiece;axially loading said second dies against said spider to cause plasticdeformation of said spider subsequent to initiation of said exertingstep but during said plastic deformation of said workpiece; and, formingparallel mounting pads in said spider with said second dies during saidplastic deformation of said spider, said pads being perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of the rim.
 11. The method of claim 10 and furthercomprising the step of: holding a center rod centrally with respect tosaid ledges and axially through said spider during said axially loadingstep defining a hole therethrough as said spider plastically deforms andis repacked around said rod.
 12. The method of claim 10 and furthercomprising the step of: forming a ridge around said hole during plasticdeformation of said spider, said ridge defining a seating planeperpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the rim and parallel to the rimedge.